Infusion devices that incorporate non-coring needles, such as Huber needles, are commonly used in hospitals and medical care facilities to administer chemotherapy, provide intravenous fluids and transfuse blood. Typically these devices are used to administer treatments through a medical port implanted under the skin and connected to a catheter. Accessing the medical port involves inserting the non-coring needle into a septum at the top of the port. The septum is capable of resealing after removal of the non-coring needle, thereby allowing multiple uses of a same port.
While these devices provide a reliable approach to administering treatment to the patient, their use is also associated with considerable risk to the patient and medical professional, most notably the risk of needle stick injuries and the risk of contamination by bloodborne pathogens and exposure to hazardous drugs. Needle stick injuries most commonly occur during the manual removal of the needle from the port. Typically two hands are required to remove the needle, in particular one hand to steady the port in the patient while the other hand forcibly pulls the needle from the port. As the removal of the needle requires some force, at the point the needle becomes free from the skin the sudden release of pressure can cause the needle to rebound—a phenomenon known as ‘bounce-back’. During this process the hand the health care professional uses to steady the port is at risk of a needle-stick injury. Needle stick injuries carry with them the risk of contamination by bloodborne pathogens transferred from the patient to the health care professional.
Additionally, such infusion devices are often used to administer toxic substances such as those used for chemotherapy and the like. These substances are designed to kill the cancer cells in the patient however as their effects are not specific to cancerous cells, accidental exposure can put the health care professional at risk. Accidental exposure can occur either as a result of a needle stick injury with a device used to infuse the chemotherapy and/or by leaks or spillage from the needle that can occur after its removal.
Therefore there remains a need for a medical infusion device that prevents or reduces needle stick injuries and that prevents or reduces exposure to infusion media by leaks or spillage once the needle is withdrawn from the patient.